Civitavecchia area without going into Rome on a Sunday

[nzdisneymom]

Hi. We will be porting in Civitavecchia on a Sunday in late June. This will be the second time in port in two weeks as we are doing B2B cruises and will have spent a full day in Rome on the first itinerary. We spent a full day in Rome in 2007 as well and saw the things then that were on our top "must see" list.

 

So for this particular port day, we'd like to do something in the surrounding area - maybe see a bit of the countryside or some of the smaller towns / areas in the region without it being a slammed-full day as we'll have had a full-day in Florence the day before.

 

We are a family of four - two adults (late 40s, mid-50s) and two teenage boys.

 

Any recommendations?

[euro cruiser]

I don't know how the adults will feel about it, but the boys might enjoy the water park in Civitavecchia. They even run a bus from the train station so it's easy to get to.

 

They don't have an english language version of the web site but you can easily translate it with google (or some other web translator).

 

http://www.aquafelix.it/

[mlbcruiser]

There is a stunning, medieval town called Civita de Bagnoregio that is within easy driving distance of Civitaveccia. The main town down below is called just Bagnoregio, which is how you would find it on a Michellin or other good map of Italy. (Use a GPS but be SURE to have a map as well as sometimes GPSs cannot get a signal for a bit or otherwise just mess up for a bit.) It is slightly NE of Civitaveccia and NW of Rome. Do a search for photos of it online and you will get some idea of the way it looks. It's perched very high up on a sort of promontory, has loads of flowers and charming, stone bldgs. & narrow lanes. There are shops, etc. You reach the medieval town on foot across a land bridge from a parking area. The parking area is ample for cars but not large enough for a LOT of huge buses or anything. Your cruiseline MIGHT even have a tour there - ? But it's not a super commonly known about place. My husband and I rented a car in Civitaveccia about 4 yrs. or so ago and drove there ourselves. The countryside drive was very nice and we went through some small towns. The roads can be winding and sometimes hilly; nothing dangerous or scary, though. (We are used to driving that type of road since there are many like it just a few min. from our home.) On our way back, we went a different way and used the autostrada back towards Rome and then picked up the hwy. back to Civitaveccia. Oh yes, I am not sure if it would be open on a Sunday, but there is a lovely restaurant overlooking the town and the walkway to it just before the land bridge to the left. I think the best meal I ever had in my life was there. Some type of little round ravioli-ish thing that had what I think was chicken, pears and nuts inside and it was to DIE for!

 

Perhaps you would prefer a private driver with a van for your family. Also, you may find that the car rental offices are closed on Sunday, though, as they often are in Italy. But I will share our recent experience trying to reserve a car in Livorno for this past Sept. 9. I had tried in vain to arrange something, emailing contacts and searching online and on the net. I recalled on a prior cruise there were some rental cos. set up at the port using umbrella tables. I even called Hertz to ask if their office there would have that this time (as it was so hard to manage to get out of the port area the last time we were at Livorno, though not a Sunday. We Had reserved ahead that time & it was tough [for a number of reasons I won't go into involving cabs that do not want to take a short fare anywhere] to get to a Budget Office not far outside the port). Hertz said no, the agency there was closed. Well, to our surprise, when we arrived in Livorno on Sept. 9, Hertz, Avis and Europecar - or was it AutoEurope? - all had umbrella tables set up! The only thing was I am sure we paid a bit more than we would have had to pay if we'd been able to make a reservation ahead of time. Since you can actually walk to the rental agencies in Civitaveccia from the port, I am not sure about Sunday rental tables or if the offices are open then.

 

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[nzdisneymom]

There is a stunning, medieval town called Civita de Bagnoregio that is within easy driving distance of Civitaveccia. The main town down below is called just Bagnoregio, which is how you would find it on a Michellin or other good map of Italy. (Use a GPS but be SURE to have a map as well as sometimes GPSs cannot get a signal for a bit or otherwise just mess up for a bit.) It is slightly NE of Civitaveccia and NW of Rome. Do a search for photos of it online and you will get some idea of the way it looks. It's perched very high up on a sort of promontory, has loads of flowers and charming, stone bldgs. & narrow lanes. There are shops, etc. You reach the medieval town on foot across a land bridge from a parking area. The parking area is ample for cars but not large enough for a LOT of huge buses or anything. Your cruiseline MIGHT even have a tour there - ? But it's not a super commonly known about place. My husband and I rented a car in Civitaveccia about 4 yrs. or so ago and drove there ourselves. The countryside drive was very nice and we went through some small towns. The roads can be winding and sometimes hilly; nothing dangerous or scary, though. (We are used to driving that type of road since there are many like it just a few min. from our home.) On our way back, we went a different way and used the autostrada back towards Rome and then picked up the hwy. back to Civitaveccia. Oh yes, I am not sure if it would be open on a Sunday, but there is a lovely restaurant overlooking the town and the walkway to it just before the land bridge to the left. I think the best meal I ever had in my life was there. Some type of little round ravioli-ish thing that had what I think was chicken, pears and nuts inside and it was to DIE for!

 

Perhaps you would prefer a private driver with a van for your family. Also, you may find that the car rental offices are closed on Sunday, though, as they often are in Italy. But I will share our recent experience trying to reserve a car in Livorno for this past Sept. 9. I had tried in vain to arrange something, emailing contacts and searching online and on the net. I recalled on a prior cruise there were some rental cos. set up at the port using umbrella tables. I even called Hertz to ask if their office there would have that this time (as it was so hard to manage to get out of the port area the last time we were at Livorno, though not a Sunday. We Had reserved ahead that time & it was tough [for a number of reasons I won't go into involving cabs that do not want to take a short fare anywhere] to get to a Budget Office not far outside the port). Hertz said no, the agency there was closed. Well, to our surprise, when we arrived in Livorno on Sept. 9, Hertz, Avis and Europecar - or was it AutoEurope? - all had umbrella tables set up! The only thing was I am sure we paid a bit more than we would have had to pay if we'd been able to make a reservation ahead of time. Since you can actually walk to the rental agencies in Civitaveccia from the port, I am not sure about Sunday rental tables or if the offices are open then.

 

Anyway, I hope this helps!

 

Thanks - it does help - this is the type of thing I was looking for. I'll be glad once the cruiseline posts their shore exursions so we can see what they have offered so we can plan with them or around them :)

[moviegal]

Might I also suggest if you have some extra time in Civitavecchia before getting back on your ship, take a walk to Chalet del Pincio. I kid you not, this little place has the BEST GELATO I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. I'm a world traveling foodie and their zuppa inglese gelato is at the top of my list as the "best thing I ever ate." Worth a stop for sure. It's at Via Buonarroti, 3. There are also several local coffee bars that are worth a quick stop at the bar -- tasty espressos for around 1 Euro!

[nzdisneymom]

Might I also suggest if you have some extra time in Civitavecchia before getting back on your ship, take a walk to Chalet del Pincio. I kid you not, this little place has the BEST GELATO I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. I'm a world traveling foodie and their zuppa inglese gelato is at the top of my list as the "best thing I ever ate." Worth a stop for sure. It's at Via Buonarroti, 3. There are also several local coffee bars that are worth a quick stop at the bar -- tasty espressos for around 1 Euro!

 

Thanks Moviegal - making a note now!

[samavarcruiser]

Hi. We will be porting in Civitavecchia on a Sunday in late June. This will be the second time in port in two weeks as we are doing B2B cruises and will have spent a full day in Rome on the first itinerary. We spent a full day in Rome in 2007 as well and saw the things then that were on our top "must see" list.

 

So for this particular port day, we'd like to do something in the surrounding area - maybe see a bit of the countryside or some of the smaller towns / areas in the region without it being a slammed-full day as we'll have had a full-day in Florence the day before.

 

We are a family of four - two adults (late 40s, mid-50s) and two teenage boys.

 

Any recommendations?

 

I would highly recommend you to book one of those tours to Tuscania and Bracciano lake area, you might also add ceri, is amazing and not to be missed

[nzdisneymom]

I would highly recommend you to book one of those tours to Tuscania and Bracciano lake area, you might also add ceri, is amazing and not to be missed

 

Thank you for the recommendation - we'll definitely take a look.

[nzdisneymom]

I would highly recommend you to book one of those tours to Tuscania and Bracciano lake area, you might also add ceri, is amazing and not to be missed

 

Our cruiseline offers an excursion to Bracciano, so we are looking at that as an option for a couple of reasons - one, we'll have had an all day trip into Florence the day before and have an early day in Naples the next morning and we're traveling with two teenagers :) This will be about day 17 of a 24-night B2B so we are thinking that we'll leave them onboard - so by going with the cruiseline's excursion, that removes most of the concern about missing the ship.

 

From Bracciano, the tour goes to Cerveteri for a wine tasting. While in Bracciano, they allow an hour or so for independent touring / shopping, etc. Sounds like a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon :)

[Ctaycruiser]

We spent a day in Civitavecchia long time ago and actually enjoyed it as a relaxing option. The promenade is lovely, lots of shops and restaurants (we ate at Sora Maria trattoria and it was great! http://www.soramaria.com/)

 

There is also a small beach by the promenade too. We actually enjoyed the town.

 

Other than that there is also Lake Bracciano and Cerveteri Etruscan Tombs if you are interested.. But if you just want to relax, eat, and have a quiet day Civitavecchia is nice.

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for the reply and recommendations. We are going to do the Lake Bracciano tour that our cruiseline offers but it is only a half-day adventure so it's nice to know there is something to do in Civitavecchia. I did spend some time with Google Maps looking at the port and nearby area.

[Italylecturer]

Ive had the same experience trying to rent a car in Civitavecchia on a Sunday in June. If you pay a bit extra its possible. For info on the area just google Viterbo, Tarquinia and places near Civitavecchia. There isn't a lot of info in English, but some blogs by expats and local authors.